Cactus Blog 

Yesterday I posted a picture of this plant in bud, now the bud has opened and the bloom is yellow, just like I promised.

Parodia ottonis

You get a real feel for how big the flower is compared to the body of the cactus. I tend to focus a lot on the blooms this time of year. (Well, through the spring and summer months…) They’re so pretty. But I’ve been told context is important too, so here’s some context for you.

Cereus c.v. monstrose – Each is a clone of a virus-ridden parent. Many variable parents give us many variable monstroses.

In case that wasn’t entirely clear, what’s going on is a perfectly normal smooth vertical cactus like the Cereus peruvianus from Peru catches a virus and the resultant form is known as a “monstrose.” Sometimes, you get a crested plant, but in this instance, you get this monstrous form of all these bumpies up and down the trunk. Good stuff.

Now, if you let it go to seed, generally the virus will not be transmitted to the babies, and the plant will revert to its original form (which it can do anyway). So you propagate these exclusively by cuttings. This means that any individual variations in the monstrosenesses will be carried identically by the cloned babies. And any variations between plants means they came from different virused parents.

Is that more clear?

Now if you would like to know more you can find it here.

Many cacti and succulents grow… with an apical meristem, the dominant bud at the very top that contributes to its pyramidal form… This gives them their symmetrical shapes. Occasionally something happens to that meristem and it mutates. One growth point turns into many, forcing the top of the plant to fans out into a series of mini-points. The result is that the top of a pointed cactus produces a crest that can look very much like a rooster comb.

In other cases, the mutation may occur throughout the plant, not just at the top. Growth points originate all over the stem or branches causing very irregular growth. The result is a monstrosity, and while the plant remains the same species, it may bear very little resemblance to its kin.

Oddly enough an occasional crest, or monstrose, branch will appear on a normal plant. Sometimes a monstrose plant will revert to normal growth. It’s a genetic crap-shoot and Mother Nature holds the dice.

While we’re having fun at the party, here’s some friday whippets for you.

The dogs seem relaxed, no?

Dani took this photo at work before she brought Amica and Jaxx over, leaving Jaxx with us for the summer. Then she and V are off to Michigan, as all good music-loving womyn are.

Here’s something that’s listed as a “Knitty Cactus” for only $24. Truly a bargain. But is it a cactus?

Parodia ottonis

This little bud will open into a large and pretty yellow flower. This little plant will have about 6 flowers this year. Parodias are very popular with the local bee population. Not as popular as the Echinocereuses of course, but popular enough that they have their own myspace page.

Some say they will get to 6″ diameter, while others claim they will slowly pup. I do not support such reckless claims until I have seen them myself. I have only ever seen this particular parodia at about 3″ across. However, they are not all solitary, but some have already begun to pup. Therefore I come to the conclusion that I can believe what the books tell me or I can believe my lying eyes.

Speaking of which, I have started wearing reading glasses this year. I still have good distant vision, still being the first one to see street signs coming up, but now I can’t read a friggin’ menu without my costco reading glasses.

We’re having our 2nd Art Opening tonight at the nursery, and you’re invited.

Phyllis Pacin
Ceramic Tile
July 18 – August 31

OPENING PARTY
Friday, July 18, 4-6pm
Cactus Jungle Nursery and Garden

One of our readers won 1st prize in the Parodia Group at their local British Cactus and Succulent Society Show.

Mark Cowley
“Kings Lynn, Norfolk Branch” U.K. ( Derek Bowdery)
With a ‘Big Old Monster Notocactus’. Also got a couple of other prizes…

Have been collecting 2-3 years, 500-600 plants. Have New Greenhouse,
NEED ANOTHER…OOPS !

That is an amazing large Parodia/Notocactus. Thanks for sharing, Mark.

I learned a new word today. How shall I use it in a sentence? Will it be cheap or will it be splendid?

Pachycereus pringlei – Cardón

A classic column from Baja, faster growing than the so-slow Saguaro, spinier than the salubrious San Pedro and far more elegant than Eve’s Needles.

How did I do?

Scrambled Eggs With Cactus
CDKitchen http://www.cdkitchen.com

Category: Scrambled Eggs
Serves/Makes: 2 | Difficulty Level: 2 | Ready In: < 30 minutes

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons chopped white onion
1/2 cup jarred cactus strips, drained and rinsed
4 large eggs, beaten
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, or to taste
1 large tomato, sliced
2 tablespoons crumbled cotija cheese

Directions:
Melt the butter in a medium skillet over medium heat, and cook the onion and cactus strips until the onion is softened, about 3 minutes. (The cactus strips will retain their texture as they cook with the onion.)

Add the eggs and stir slowly to scramble. Cook until set, about 2 to 3 minutes, or to desired doneness. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with sliced tomato on the side and scatter cheese over all.

Recipe Location.
Recipe ID: 84722
Don’t forget to stop back at CDKitchen and write a review or upload a picture of this recipe!

© 1995-2008 CDKitchen, Inc.

Q: Hi Hap,
Thanks for your help with the cactus! The tubular shaped cactus has bad discoloration and little white larvae/mites? in the saucer. The beaver tail/flat shaped cactus thankfully does not have the white bugs in the saucer but it has some rough patches of brown discoloration.

Any suggestions on how to correct this problem?
Thank you,
Ashley

A: Ashley,

They need a good spray/drench with a Neem Oil solution. It looks like they actually have two types of bugs, scale and mealy bugs as well as a start of a fungal infection, most likely brought on by the bugs sucking on their sap. Neem Oil will kill the bugs as well as help the plants fight off the fungal infection. We use a 1% Neem dilution with great success. We have it available at the nursery.

Hap

From various cacti in the Hylocereus genus, like the Red Pitaya (Hylocereus undatus). It’s a video about harvesting the fruit. I think. It’s mostly in french. I think. Some english comes through. Anyway, I’m sure it’s delicious.

Opuntia violacea

A lot has been said about this wonderful plant.

So I will leave off with this: Michael Dukakis is a childhood friend of my mother’s. Don’t you just love it! Random personal details! And sometimes they’re even true! Like this one! It makes me laugh.

The Las Vegas Review Journal takes all kinds of questions from their readers, including this simple one about some sedum.

Well, I could have told you that. Of course, there’s more to the answer than all that, so click through to find out about build up of salts and the author’s opinion of the rubber mulch too.

…How big a pot should I repot this plant into? They really do ask us this particular question all the time. Now I never have to answer it again – I can just point them to this video, as if they haven’t already seen it.

You’ve watched the videos, you know the score, but what does it look like? Why here it is.

It’s the Operculicarya decaryi, after all. From Madagscar. Kind of a stylized photo, but you get the idea.

The South of France is apparently a nice place for agaves to grow. This agave is about to bloom, so you can say goodbye to the nice plant while you have the chance.

Photo sent in by Dorena, who lives in Alaska, and took the photo in a garden in Nice if you hadn’t figured that out yet.

Yes! The toys have the final say in the matter, so who am I to argue with them? Now, technically, you may argue this is not actually a toy, but rather a Lifesize Cardboard Standup – a decorative asset to any home and garden. And you’d be wrong by my reckoning. It comes from a site called Toy Impact and is listed under a category called Toys. So there, point taken.

But it would make such a lovely addition to any fine living room area.

But wait! Don’t make your decision yet. We also have this one!

It’s not as festive, but it is a little more classy! But what about accessories? Are there accessories to go with it, you may ask? But of course. Try out this lifesize cardboard cutout for size:

And these adorable accessories too:

Oh for crying out loud, that’s enough!

In today’s cactus news (actually a couple weeks ago, but then nobody has ever called me prompt) we have a cactus picture with hats from the Casa Grande Dispatch.

Photo Alan Levine

And the caption, in the newspaper, really is this:

“I don’t know how many times I’ve told you boys to use the bathroom before we leave the house. OK, you’ll have to go behind that bush, but watch out for your shoes.”

I don’t know why, so stop asking me. Click through and see for yourself, and then write a letter to the editor. You have the power to stop this.

Hoya “Chelsea”

I’m not feeling like writing anything about these waxy vining dangling succulents in the asclepiad family. instead I would like to write about the Red Sox. But I won’t.

Q: I have a graptoveria ‘debbie’ that is giving me some difficulty. it had a bloom spray on it when i purchased it 2 months ago. the spray is still on it and no blooms have opened. it sits in an eastern window and although it is getting leggy (not enough sun) it is getting burn spots on it (too much sun). what do I do with it? cut the spray and move to different soil (currently standard cactus mixed with specialized pumice from garden center)?

Please help. If it is lighting, please tell me how to add extra lighting for them. Thank you thank you thank you.

Stacy

A: Stacy,
Your plant is fine. It’s hard for me to be sure since the photo is a little out of focus, but it looks like there are 2 blooms that have opened on the bottom of the bloom spray. It is possible when moving a plant to a new environment that a bloom can abort, but it doesn’t look like that has happened here. Hopefully the rest of them will open. You might want to get it closer to a sunny window.

As for the plant, it is a tiny bit leggy, I suppose, but not too bad. Basically it looks fine. The “burn” spots you mention are just the plant losing bottom leaves. All succulents lose bottom leaves. Check out my instructional video.
Peter

A customer wanted to know what the name Aloe cryptopoda means. Crypto means false, hidden, fake; poda means foot. Well, that doesn’t make any sense. So I looked it up.

It really is derived from “Hidden Foot”. Because the base of the bloom stalk is hidden by the plant’s leaves. That is the dumbest excuse for a latin plant name I have ever heard.

Most of the aloes have already bloomed. But here we have a summer blooming aloe.

Aloe nobilis

Clumping rosettes, deep green tinged with dark red.

Also in summer the sun is directly overhead when I take these pictures so the lighting is very different than in spring.

Cactus Toys are making the news left and right. There must be a fad or something. I’ve never heard of such an accumulation of toys with a single theme before. I feel like we’re the winners in a lottery!

They say this toy will,

Bring the look of the dessert to any occasion.

It may even remind you of the desert too. I know it reminds me of the Mojave at sunset.

We’ve been featuring a series of very nice and happy cactus toys in the news recently.

This cactus toy seems not to have been a big success. In fact, according to the website, Cactus Reno was in fact a complete flop. Maybe it was too spiny for the little kids. It certainly looks dangerous.

This new toy seems to be manufactured by a mysterious character named jack683, from Montevideo, Uruguay. Don’t they have child safety laws in Uruguay?

Some of my headlines are getting shorter. Not really more to the point, I don’t think.

Pereskia grandifolia

A primitive cactus. And by that, I mean it’s not even a succulent. It has true cactus spines and all, but it also has true leaves. And it sure is shrubby, and pink-beflowered.

I used to live in Alaska. For 4 years. One summer I drove around the state doing ADA surveys for government buildings. I flew into the villages that weren’t on the road system.

I just thought you should know.

Today’s Cactus Photo of the Day comes from the band King Kahn and the Shrines. I don’t know much about this band except what they say themselves on their site:

“WHAT IS?” the exile Canadian Enfant Dingue, KING KHAN, inquires platonically as well as categorically through the brand new LP from the SHRINES and snatches the master question right out of the astonished community’s mouth.

After reading that, I still don’t know anything about the band. However, the song No Regrets on their Hazelwood page is pretty good.

So here’s the picture of King Kahn and a beautiful cereus:

Fantastic.

Benjamin thinks his sister Amica is coming to visit, but she’s not! What a dirty trick I played on him, but I love him.

Yes, more. Another Echinocereus grandiflora. They just won’t stop blooming. It’s not my fault, it’s in their nature.

Well, I suppose it’s pretty. Just don’t look too deep or you’ll get lost in there like the bees do.